Hugo Lloris is urging his Tottenham Hotspur to do “more” this season. The goalkeeper and French international is pushing his team mates to step it up as they prepare to take on Qarabag FK of Azerbaijan in their Europa League opener.
Spurs will host the first leg of this Group J clash. In Europe’s consolation bracket, Tottenham have fallen from the quarter-finals to the round of 16 to the round of 32 in successive years. Team Captain Hugo Lloris wants to see his team put out a strong effort and try to change that.
“I expect more from Tottenham and I expect more from me as well. We need to go as far as possible in the competition.”
“We know it is a trophy to get and you play only for winning. There is also a possibility to get to the Champions League if you go to the final and win the final. It is so far away that we are focused on the group stage and the target is to finish first.”
‘I think European competition is always important when you are a player. Each game is important and we know we need a first win on Thursday because the next two games are away against very good teams in Anderlecht and Monaco.”
“We expect a tough game because European competition is always hard so we need to be focused and have the mentality of winning.”
Lloris is right. The Europa League trophy is still indeed a trophy. Obviously, it’s not the competition nor the trophy that the team or supporters aspire to, but it’s a reward and a goal nonetheless. If you’re in it, why not be in it to win it? Hugo Lloris should be expecting his team to perform better, because they really haven’t produced results thus far in 2015-16.
White Hart Lane spent big this summer on new acquisitions, and so far, the overall return on investment has been minimal. Spurs have taken just six points from the first five games and currently reside in 12th place in the league table.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 the Zone.
Follow him on Twitter and Instagram